Star Wars: Divergence, Episode I: Survival
by VengeanceNightBatman
Summary: The Duel of the Fates goes differently than in the Saga... and Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi will never be the same.
1. Chapter 1: Twist of the Fates

Chapter 0: Opening Crawl

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS DIVERGENCE

EPISODE I: SURVIVAL

It is a time of political turmoil. The evil TRADE FEDERATION has invaded the peaceful planet of NABOO, forcing the inhabitants to unite against their greedy and tyrannical bid for political and military power.

In this desperate struggle for freedom, the Naboo are aided by the Jedi QUI-GON JINN, his Padawan OBI-WAN KENOBI, and a Tatooine boy rescued from slavery named ANAKIN SKYWALKER. These heroes have provided essential help to the Naboo by attacking the Droid Control ship and diverting the attention of the Sith Lord DARTH MAUL from the natives' brave gambit to capture the Federation's leaders.

The plan has proven successful. The droid army is disabled, and Naboo has been liberated from Federation control. However, the Sith Maul still lives, and has managed to trap Master Qui-Gon alone, with his Padawan unable to help. As Qui-Gon makes his final stand against a seemingly unstoppable Sith Lord, The Fates move to intervene in this deadly Duel...

Chapter 1: Twist of the Fates

Qui-Gon breathed slowly as he stared up at his opponent. The blood-red Zabrak paced in front of the energy shield separating the two combatants. He seemed anxious to continue their melee. Qui-Gon was not.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes and began to meditate and weigh his options. The Zabrak Sith was faster, more powerful, and possibly more skilled than he. While Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had together driven the Zabrak back to the recesses of the Theed power generator, the tide of the duel had shifted towards the Sith warrior's favor when the Sith had successfully separated Master from Apprentice.

Qui-Gon could sense Obi-Wan some 30 yards behind him, separated by almost 8 more ray-shield barriers. He was standing, and his breathing was more tense than that of Qui-Gon. Like the Sith Lord, Obi-Wan was ready and eager to continue the fight.

The room in front of them was circular, with a large pit in the middle. Qui-Gon reasoned that it must be another conduit for transferring energy to the Theed grid, and vaguely considered its use in weakening or disabling Maul. He rejected this as unlikely, suspecting that the same safety measures that had activated the ray shields separating the combatants would prevent the room from activating again.

Qui-Gon realized another downside to the adjoining room's layout: there was no room to maneuver. The central pit was surrounded by a walking area two yards wide at the most, with nothing in the way of elevated platforms or unstable objects that could turn the tide of the fight. This meant that the impending fight would be decided solely by the combatants' skills with a lightsaber in close quarters. With this in mind, the advantage to the Sith's apparent mastery of Jar'Kai, far more effective in one-on-one saber combat than Qui-Gon's preferred Ataru.

The prospects did not seem to be in Qui-Gon's favor.

Suddenly, the ray shield receded, and Qui-Gon and the Sith moved simultaneously. Qui-Gon leapt to his feet while activating his lightsaber to block the Sith's blow. The Sith stepped back, stepped forward and struck again, Qui-Gon again blocking his blow. As Qui-Gon was driven around the room, the weakness of his Ataru form against Jar'Kai became more and more apparent. But then a strange thought struck the Jedi Master: if Ataru was so ineffective here, why use it?

The Sith continued to attack, while Qui-Gon continued to block and think.

The answer seemed obvious at first. After all, Qui-Gon was a master of Ataru, but not exceptionally skilled in other forms of saber combat.

Obi-Wan was standing where Qui-Gon had been kneeling not forty-five seconds ago, separated from the duelists by the ray shield.

If Qui-Gon attempted to change forms in the middle of the fight, he would lose the one advantage that had allowed him to survive despite using a form vulnerable to that of his opponent. He would lose his familiarity with his style and his intimate knowledge of how to adapt to the inherent weaknesses of his form.

The Sith's saber crashed and crashed again and again against Qui-Gon's saber, each blow fueled by the ferocity and power of the Dark Side.

But if Qui-Gon took the risk, if he took the leap of faith and used a style that his opponent did not expect, what could happen? The Sith would be caught off guard. Qui-Gon would be able to press his advantage and gain the upper hand.

As the Sith drove Qui-Gon farther and farther from the exit, Qui-Gon made his choice. While the Sith recoiled from another attack, Qui-Gon leaped backwards, landing in the best Soresu stance he could muster. He stood firm, reaching outward with his arm while keeping his lightsaber in a defensive position.

The Sith, as Qui-Gon had predicted, was taken aback at this abrupt change in tactics. Qui-Gon sensed a brief flash of surprise from the direction of the exit, telling him that Obi-Wan felt the same as the dark warrior. But this surprise was replaced by comprehension in another flash, as Obi-Wan realized the prudence of this changed approach.

The Sith recovered from his confusion and attacked. Qui-Gon blocked another blow, but this time he held his position for another second, pushing his opponent away in the next. The Sith staggered backwards, and Qui-Gon pressed his advantage, going on the offensive while keeping with his Soresu stance.

The Sith tried to regain his footing in the duel, but could not adjust to the change in pace. The duel continued as Qui-Gon began to attack, driving the Sith back towards the doorway. As the Sith staggered back from another blow, Qui-Gon acted upon a Force-given impulse and lunged forward, aiming for the Sith's saber.

The blood-red doubled-bladed saber split cleanly in half, much to the shock of its wielder.

The next half-second, the Sith himself split cleanly in half, although unlike the saber, the cut was horizontal.

The Sith's face registered only shock as he staggered for moment. His knees gave way and he fell to the floor face-down, his upper half grotesquely sliding forward across the surface of the floor as Qui-Gon sidestepped it.

The ray shield receded again, and Obi-Wan rushed to his Master's side, surveying the dead warrior with surprise and trepidation. He then looked up at his Master, who nodded and deactivated his lightsaber.

"It is finished, my young Padawan."


	2. Chapter 2: After the Crisis

Chapter 2: After the Crisis

Qui-Gon ran through the generator and to the hangar. With the Sith dead, his first priority was to find Anakin and make sure he was safe.

The fight had taken thirty minutes to finish by his reckoning. This was more than enough time for Queen Amidala and her security escort to capture the Federation Viceroy and bring the conflict to a swift end. If the starfighter squadron had destroyed the Control Ship as well, the victory of the Naboo was even more assured.

Qui-Gon had faith in the brave, hardy Queen and her equally-able subjects. But he had less faith in the ten-year old boy that he had been forced to bring into the vicinity of a warzone. If Anakin had left the cockpit of the Naboo N-1 Starfighter Wui-Gon had left him in, or had been cornered while hiding in the cockpit, his death would be Qui-Gon's fault for failing to protect him.

As Qui-Gon reached the hangar, a sight that he truly wasn't prepared for met his eyes. What remained of the Naboo Security pilots that had left to take down the Droid Control Ship were gathered around the ship Anakin had taken shelter in, which was parked in a different place than it had been when Qui-Gon had left to confront the Sith Lord.

The pilots were cheering as they waited for the ship's occupant to emerge. The cockpit opened and Anakin climbed out, looking both trepidatious and excited. A hush fell on the pilots as they surveyed the boy. Clearly they had been expecting someone to emerge from the ship, but not a boy such as this one.

Qui-Gon rushed forward. "Anakin!"

"Master Qui-Gon!" joyfully cried Anakin. He rushed forward through the small throng of pilots and hugged Qui-Gon, much to the Jedi's surprise. The boy immediately let go and stepped back, a look of guilt in his eyes.

Qui-Gon kneeled down and addressed the boy. "What—what happened here?"

"Well, I didn't leave the cockpit, just like you said..."

"He was amazing!" shouted one of the pilots excitedly. She continued to explain breathlessly. "We thought we were doomed. We weren't doing any damage to the Control Ship, and Vulture Droids were mowing down our forces left and right. Suddenly, the Control Ship starts blowing up from the inside, and one of our starfighters flies out of one of the hangars! Someone'd had the stroke of genius to take it out from the inside! I just can't believe it was this kid!"

Qui-Gon did a double-take at this. He had sensed that the former slave boy from Tatooine had a strong connection to the Force surpassing even Grand Master Yoda's, but to have destroyed a capital ship with nothing but a one-man starfighter and his own instinct? That kind of powerful feat was unheard of in this age, and rare even in ancient legends.

There was no doubt now, thought Qui-Gon. This boy had to be the Chosen One. The Council would have to listen to him now.

Many interested parties arrived on Naboo in the days to come. There were charities aiding in relief efforts, politicians hoping to look good in front of a holocamera and seize the opportunity to publicly condemn the Federation, and Republic security forces overzealously arresting every Federation sympathizer they could. For her part, Queen Padmé Amidala handled it rather well. She was cordial to all who personally came to see her, and exercised remarkable tact in turning away the more obviously opportunistic politicians. She also made it entirely clear that the chief authority in the cleanup operations was not the Republic representatives, but her own security force.

After a week had passed since the Battle of Theed, Amidala had been able to restore the central elements of the government infrastructure. At about this time, the Queen received the calls from Coruscant that she had actually been waiting for from the Jedi Council and the new Supreme Chancellor, Naboo's own Senator Palpatine.

Amidala was only briefly surprised that the Jedi Council had elected to visit in its entirety. It only made sense that the entire Council would elect to investigate one of the greatest conflicts that the Republic had seen in centuries, especially considering the involvement of a warrior that resembled their old foes, the Sith.

The new Chancellor's visit made sense as well. Naboo was his homeworld, after all. There was also the small fact that the issue of the Federation's invasion and the Senate's inability to do anything about it had allowed him to be elected. Legal action against the Federation would strengthen his position and help assure his supporters of his dedication to resolving the issues that had placed him in office.

Unlike the other politicians who were looking for a way to personally involve themselves with the Federation's indictment, Amidala welcomed Palpatine's involvement. Palpatine truly did seem as if he wanted to inspire change in the Senate, and he was inarguably in the best position to legally punish Federation.

With both the Jedi and the Supreme Chancellor involved in cleaning up the mess the Federation had left, things could be different for Naboo in the future. She knew it.


End file.
